What do you expect from this 34th edition of IFTM Top Resa?
We've decided to play the Top Resa card this year, with a stand and a high level of activity at the show. The challenge will be to see if the event really attracts a flow of corporate contacts. But it's important for our industry to have forums and events like this where people can meet.
How is the adoption of your new hotel platform going?
The three main criteria for finding a hotel remain the same: location, comfort and compliance with travel policy. We have worked hard on these three parameters in our new interface to provide the right information at the right time. We have also focused on additional services such as Wi-Fi, integrated into our offer, and TripAdvisor reviews classified according to the type of trip, which cover different needs. This is a major challenge, insofar as the hotel determines the travel experience, and is the differentiating factor in the travel experience. It's also one of the last levers for savings, because expenditure is now well managed in other sectors, such as air, rail and car hire. With our tool, we can achieve savings of around 10%, with additional services included.
What are your forecasts for 2012?
Businesses are continuing to travel, and even increasing their travel, but they are more vigilant about costs. So we remain on track for solid growth in 2012, with an estimated 25% for the Europe zone. Our growth is mainly driven by new customers. It is enabling us to invest in projects such as the hotel platform.
And what about 2013?
We will continue to achieve double-digit growth. We are neither unconsciously optimistic nor hopelessly pessimistic. Our tools are working well, and we're going to continue to grow. We'll be positioning ourselves very soon for the opening of a new site in France.
What role do SMEs play in this development?
Logically, we began by approaching accessible markets, mainly SMEs, to which our tools are well suited in terms of both simplicity and speed of implementation. But we also need volume, and we've been joined by some major new customers since the start of the year. We want to maintain a balance between SMEs and large accounts: it's a sound logic for our market. Our obsession is not to be the biggest. We're betting on a profitable business that will enable us to continue to invest and develop new tools.
What are you working on?
There is still a lot to be done in the area of mobility, and ancillary costs are also a major trend today. Our customers need simple, structured information, so that they are not forced to compare on price alone, but on services.
What about MICE, which seems to be becoming a major issue?
We have a MICE department, but we know that there is still room for improvement, and that this is a product that we must have in our market. We're investing in it, and it's an integral part of our strategy.
